I'm having some problems with tight inside curves or sharp inside points of applique, if the curve is sharp, then the other side of the curve is close and cutting the fabric already means it's in the fray zone, around an 1/8th of an inch. This has cropped up in multiple commercial patterns for me in the past few days. The other issue is sharp inside points, I'm fine with say the point of a heart but on a bow, the inner point of the triangle you'd clip out of the end of a ribbon is proving difficult to avoid fraying.
I'm taking a hand appliqué class, but I'm probably in the needs remedial help category, however, with the sharp inside points, the woman I am taking the class from advises us to cut a "chicken leg" on the sharp inside points. Sort like a trident sign. It does make it easier to fold it all in nicely. I'm still struggling with the sharp curves, but I've heard to cut your fabric with pinking sheers to make it easier to turn - haven't tried it yet, but I do want to.
No doubt you'll get more experience help from other members in RCTQ.
I take the coward's way out. If the applique is too icky I adjust it. Loosen up the sharp curves and widen the inside points. Life is too short to hassle with applique! It will look just as good and you'll keep your sanity.
I had considered that, but it's just too restrictive. Take a 3 looped bow, it starts to look stringy if you increase the size of the inner loops. Fortunately these were just about manageable, but I had increased the size of the pattern. I can make the points on the ribbon a little less steep. Some I can switch to reverse applique. I could really do with getting hold of Elly Sienkiewicz's first book.
I wouldn't do a bow as a single piece. With a little thinking you can eliminate many inner points in applique pieces. For the rest, you will need some extra practice.
A wide ribbon bow is basically a petal, an oval for the knot, a petal, and 2 bits that dangle from the lower edge of the center oval. I'd leave the first three pieces together as one piece, and cut each of the dangling bits separately. I'd first apply the 2 dangling bits, then apply the larger petal and knot over the top ends of the first two pieces.
A narrow ribbon bow would be easy to applique if you use bias to form the loops rather than a cut out loop shaped piece of fabric. Start by laying the strip of bias so it runs from the bottom of one dangling end, up to the center point, then turn it to form the first loop, continue as if to make an 8, then carry it down to form the other dangling end. Leave a little room in your stitching at the center point so that you can insert the ends of the "knot". The knot can be made of another short piece of bias, cut just long enough to cross over the top the center, tuck both raw ends under the center point of the bow and stitch in place.
A few extra stitches at the center of the inner points does wonders for keeping the fraying under control. Raw edge applique with machine satin stitch comes in handy sometimes, and so does using a narrow band of fusible near the edge of the applique piece.
I just popped in to post a thankyou for responses to an earlier post.
Have you considered trying a stabiliser on the back of your applique in difficult areas? I use an light weight iron-on vilene and it effectively stops fraying on all but razor thin areas.
If all else fails, it might be possible to split the applique shape in two and sew it in sections. The join will not show if you are careful, or you can emphasise it as part of the design.
Hi there, Cheryl. So nice to have you drop in. We sorely miss you. As to the appliqué, some fabrics are going to be contrary and ravel no matter what. If you're dealing with one that won't behave, hurl it to the floor and stomp it. It won't improve the fabric but you will feel a whole lot better. Polly
I lack imagination so can't picture the bow you are doing, however, I can give you a few tips regarding applique which I use. When you have to clip into these tiny spaces dab a teenie spot of fray check on the cut edge. I use a wooden tooth pick for this and squeeze a bit of fray check on the tooth pick then wipe the tooth pick over the cut edge. It does work wonders and stops the frustration of fraying edges. Then continue to use the tooth pick to turn under your edges. I've only recently discovered the tooth pick trick. A brilliant little aid, like freezer paper, from the kitchen cupboard! Also as someone else has already said, take a couple of stitches close together in these inside points.
Good luck and let us know how you get > I'm having some problems with tight inside curves or sharp inside points
I forgot one tip. Glue sticks. Fabric glue or plain Elmer's washable school glue. You can use it to turn and hold an edge until the piece is appliqued into place securely with extra stitches in the corners. It washes out of the fabric so it won't leave any marks or damage the fabric. I have hand and machine sewn through the glue on several projects with great results.
Someone mentioned FrayChek, but I don't use it because it does discolor the fabric eventually. It takes years for the discoloration to show up but it always happens. If a finished project is only going to be used a year or two it would not be a problem, but I advise not using that product on a show quilt or an heirloom quilt. Debra in VA See my quilts at
I'm actually doing it in more pieces than that already, 5, with a circle for the knot as the 6th. Doing it in 5 pieces allows for the side loops to be a different fabric giving the illusion of dimension. The inner loop is small but dooable, it's that kind of shape though that is causing issues on other pieces, when it's smaller/narrower.
There are pictures on this site, the very top (most recent) entry has a the bow at the bottom. This bow itself was ok, though the tip with the fray check and the cocktail stick might help next time. It's shapes like the inner loop of the bow occurring in other places and smaller that I'm having problems with.
before i read thru all the responses here and see if i even need to give my ideas.... is there a pix online somewhere of the design you're working on? helps if we can see what you're talking about, eh. cheers,
so'kay, i found it. looks to me like you did a good job of it after all. must of been all the advice given on here so i'll just shut up for now. :) i like the first block, lovely flowers. keep'em come'n.
well, everything pictured has worked! but many times it was borderline, I'm not sure whether pushing the boundaries further is a matter of my technique or whether I'm at the limits of that fabric. Last night I tried to reverse applique some detail on to a tulip, the tulip itself will then be an applique piece, so I was only working on a small piece of fabric, the first two details went fine, the 3rd, which was the same size as the 2nd frayed on one side, the detail is less than an 1/4 inch wide, so once you've trimmed it each side is less than 1/8th inch, no wonder one of them frayed! But I know it can be done, I have two different pictures of this block completed and the scale is apparently the same as the pattern.
I just found the picture, Anne. Your ribbon bow is nothing like I imagined it would look like. I probably would have opted to applique a piece of the background fabric over the loop form the 'hole' through the loop. I might have used bias to form the ring on top of the anchor, or applied a small circle of the background fabric for the hole in the ring depending on the specific size of the ring and my particular whim at the time I stitched it.
i've done only one reversed applique, a monarch butterfly. i sew'd the two colours on the wing togther first, just around the outside,then turned them inside out thru where the body would attach later, so there was no outside seam to deal with, if that makes any sense. i dont recall off the top of my head, and my head now aint functioning all that great so wont even try to figure that out, which way i laid the black and orange so when turned inside out they were black on top of orange. then i snipped and pin'd with those tiny thin applique pins one section at a time. tiny wee stitches to be sure but it was my first and only so far and some of the sections i worked with were very very thin. have a look at my webshots page.
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the applique folder, the monarch is about 6 x 9 inches. gives you some idea of the size of the skinny bits i was working around.i think i've some other pix of that work when in progress somewhere else online, must find those. i lost all the pix i had on the puter when it crashed a few months ago. :(i liked the reverse applique cuz the pieces can not get away from ya. :)) there is a bluebird in that album too, done EPP'd first, sew the pieces to one another, then back'd it with thin strong non woven interfacing. i found this method works well with a lot of designs. so you can join up pieces of one design before attaching the whole thing to the background. there are heaps of different methods to use when applique'n. different ones work better on different type designs. ya just gotta try'em all and soon you'll figure out which to use when. heck, you might come up with some new methods. then you'll be show'n all of us how its done. :))
It's exactly as in the book currently on the market "Baltimore Basics" by Mimi Dietrich, except I increased the size about 25%. She gives in depth instructions through several different ways of applique, but when it comes to the bows, she just tells you the order and doesn't mention which way she prefers. I thread basted the pieces on freezer paper. I have a picture in a different book with the inner bit made of another piece of the background fabric, I really don't like how it looks. Thankfully I can do the bow ok, it's similar shapes in other pieces where pictures indicate at least one person has managed it the standard way, that I want to do but am struggling with.
found it, I like it, I think I follow what you say you were doing, if I'm working out the size right, it looks like the skinny bits are about the same size as I'm managing ok with. I think to go smaller I need a more finely woven fabric, such as a batik, or maybe take the plunge with interfacing/fusible.
Anne, how did you make the flowers in the first pic? Just beautiful. I understand how you put on the first layer, but what method did you use for the dimensional part?
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